Canadian family drove home from Florida with dead father in the back seat

By GateHouse Media staff

Tuesday

Apr 9, 2019 at 3:08 PM

The U.S. health care system has been known to bankrupt some Canadians, according to Vice News Canada, which would explain why a Canadian family vacationing in Florida opted for a dramatic means to their holiday end on April 1.

Fernand Drapeau, 87, of Quebec began experiencing health problems near the beginning of the more than 1,500-mile trip from Florida to the family’s home in Ormstown. It would take 24 hours of straight driving to complete, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Drapeau died on the road.

The man’s wife and their 60-year-old son decided to keep driving. Fearing the cost of dealing with U.S. health care as well as the hassle and price of repatriating the body made the drive worth the risk of being caught, the Toronto Sun reported.

Propping their family patriarch in the backseat, the Drapeau family’s solution was almost a success as the husband and wife lived only 15 minutes from the exact border stop where Drapeau’s body was found, according to the Vancouver Sun.

The family’s fears weren’t unwarranted. “It’s a well-known fear for Canucks traveling to the US — you get hurt, don’t have adequate travel insurance, are forced into the American healthcare system and all of a sudden you’re bankrupt because of a fall,” Vice News Canada wrote after news of this incident, giving examples such as a man who owed $350,000 for treatment after a car accident, or a woman who gave birth prematurely and had to pony up nearly $1 million.